Concept of an Auxiliary System for Carrier-Based Aircraft Catapult

In recent years, a new type of superconducting energy storage is proposed based on the interaction of a permanent magnet and a superconducting coil, and many studies on the superconducting energy storage have been conducted. Based on its unique ability of directly realizing energy conversion of mechanical → electromagnetic → mechanical, the new energy storage has promising potential in the applications of utilizing mechanical energy, such as the aircraft catapult. In this paper, we proposed an auxiliary system for the aircraft catapult using the new superconducting energy storage. It works with the conventional aircraft catapult, such as steam catapult and electromagnetic catapult, to realize the catapult capability improvement and energy regeneration. The expected structure and working principle are introduced. The simulation results indicate that a meter-scale auxiliary system can provide propulsion force of average about 100 kN at the beginning of launching, which is significantly helpful. Therefore, we confidently believe that the auxiliary system will greatly enhance the capability of aircraft catapults, both the steam catapult and electromagnetic catapult, which brings a breakthrough in aircraft catapult technology.